BUCKEYE LAKE — Tracy Wheeler waded waist-deep in the water off Buckeye Lake’s Crystal Beach. A handful of boys splashed in the water near her. On the shore just a few yards from the waterfront, a red sign jutted out from the ground, reading “DANGER” and “Avoid all contact with the water.” “I decided to be brave today,” said Wheeler, 55, of Buckeye Lake. “Evidently, nobody minds. It seems like a waste to me that nobody swims.” Both Crystal Beach and Fairfield Beach at Buckeye Lake are under public health advisories because of high levels of toxic algal blooms, blue-green algae that forms in warm and high-nutrient water and produces harmful toxins. The advisory signs have been posted since May 17. But many beachgoers are unaware or unfazed by the posted warnings. Noah Skinner, 13, who lives on the lakefront, said he and his friends still swim because it’s the…
Continue Reading: Reports of toxic algae at Buckeye Lake leave visitors unfazed
